RICHARD

"You are a bad boy."

Slap.

"You deserve every punishment inflicted on you."

Punch.

"It's all your fault."

And then the belt. The wide tongue of pain I had come to fear. The black leather, dead and cold, like the eyes of the animals Father brought home. I was just like the dead doe in the kitchen; lifeless and hanging by a string. I closed my eyes and shut my ears; if I didn't look, it wasn't there. I retreated into the recesses of an eighteen year old mind. I grew an extra dagger on the sharp exterior of my heart. I was only nine.

Huddled at my feet. A pool of misery cuddled around my toes. My heart lunged as she cradled her wrist. I felt like a jerk. I mentally punched myself in the face. I was more than a jerk. I was horrible. I had hurt an innocent girl for no reason.

That's not true.

There was a reason. I needed to hurt something. If I oppressed another's will, I got a boost. A little power that I could wield. Power I had never had before. I stumbled back as everything fell into place. My cruelty, my anger at Bruce. I turned from Kori and fled, running away from her. And I was trying vainly to run from myself.

GARFIELD

The subject of ass is something I am very keen on. I could teach a class on what makes an ass perfect. The curve of the buttocks, the juiciness waiting to be squeezed by my hand. And almost every guy I know would kill to be in my class. However, lately I've been a little down on my pastime. My killjoy mood has nothing to do with Rachel, so don't even think that. Sure we got in a fight, but who cares. That's just the norm. But this fight was different. She hadn't snapped. Hadn't been predictable Rachel

It was autumn, crisp and beautiful, and the shade of the trees in the alley made it even darker. A shiver of fear and chill crept up my spine and I shivered. I remembered the light in her eyes. As I ranted and screamed at her, humiliated her, question her, the light flickered. And when the look in my eyes was deadly, she knew I didn't know. Never would know. But I had realized as she held back tears. Rachel Roth was madly in love with me.I was passing the entryway to an alley when the guy from the plane ran out, tears streaming down his cheeks. I grabbed his shoulder and stopped him dead.

"Hey man, what are you do-" I staggered back, caught by a skilled upper-hook punch. I held my throbbing cheek and stared as he swiftly turned a corner and sped from sight.

God how I hated that guy.

With new suspicion, I slyly sneaked down the alley and spotted Kori lying in the asphalt, unconscious. Anger boiled within me and I contemplated hunting Richard down and strangling him with my own hands. But I merely dropped to my knees and inspected her. Nothing amiss. I picked up her hands and rested then behind my back and pulled her into my arms. I adjusted her arms and she squirmed in her sleep, making a small noise of discomfort. I sat her down again and inspect her arm. There in the moonlight I spotted a red welt forming around her wrist in the shape of a hand.

KORI

I opened my eyes and felt relieved. I was awake. I hadn't done anything dumb. No taking pills or slitting my wrists. I didn't jump from atop a building. The terror and shock and anguish of my loss was overwhelming. Gandolf had mysteriously died at exactly the moment I stepped foot onto the airplane. Apparently, when mixing together his nightly sleeping remedies, he had "accidentally" dripped two drop of poison into the cup. Of course the case could not be looked into, courtesy of the Queen, otherwise known as Bitch Blair. I raised my arms and stretched, slowly rising into a sitting position. I was in completely white washed room.

It reminded me of heaven. But not quite so nice, that is. The pill bottles on my beside table didn't do much to help the image either. In the corner, I saw Gar was lying, back to wall, snoring softly. I smiled, knowingly. I don't know why I took this so calmly. Shouldn't I cry, call the police, go drink myself to death? In the midst of my depression I had been hurt by a man I had met on the plane, and then seconds after he had strangely run off, a second man jumped form the bushes, introduced himself formally, and proceeded to stuff chloroform under my nose.

How did I know it was chloroform? I sighed an shrugged, acknowledging it as more information I had unknowingly acquired. I slipped out of bed and moved Gar's hair from his face as a thank you, then happily left the bare room. I padded down the boys dorm hallway and peered at the names on the door.

Blake and Kevin

Ron and Mark

Corbin and Kyle

Richard and Alex

Outside this door I took pause. Richard… Suddenly the door swung open and a handsome boy with black, curly hair leaned against the door frame nonchalantly.

"Hey gorgeous." He stated before looking both ways down the hallway and viciously dragging me into the room.

He pushed me into the wall and smiled.

"Hello there, my name is Alex."